IPL 2021: Our batting has been a bit of a let-down – KL Rahul

Punjab Kings captain KL Rahul has admitted that his team’s batting has been a bit of a let-down in the ongoing season of IPL 2021.

The KL Rahul-led team dented their hopes of qualifying for the playoff stages as they lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by six runs at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

RCB posted the highest total at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the ongoing season as they were able to put 164 runs on the board after a fine half-century from Glenn Maxwell. However, PBKS could only manage 158 runs despite the fact that their opening pair of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal added a fine alliance of 91 runs inside the 11 overs.

Rahul scored 39 runs from 35 balls whereas Mayank Agarwal contributed with 57 from 42 balls but apart from them no Punjab Kings batter could get going in the run-chase. Aiden Markram scored 20 but Nicholas Pooran continued his poor form in the league.

In fact, there is no doubt that Punjab Kings have been heavily reliant on the shoulders of their opening batters but the rest of the players have failed to deliver the goods.

KL Rahul said while talking in the post-match presentation, “Can’t put my finger on it, the score they got was par, maybe 10-15 runs extra, but when Maxwell comes in and bat with freedom, the form he is, you have got to give it to him. Can’t fault the bowlers a lot. Honestly, our batting has been a bit of a let-down. I would be lying if I say it doesn’t play on my mind (on having to bat long and with care), I play a role that the team demands, I don’t enjoy it, but this is a team game and that’s what the team expects from you, you’ll have to do it”

He added, “In T20s, the openers get the bulk of the runs, you don’t get middle-order players scoring 500-600 runs in a season. But we do need players to make those 25-30 runs at a quick rate, the power game which Shahrukh has started to do for us, the youngsters have done really well – Bishnoi, Arshdeep, and Harpreet have come through in the last 4-5 games and have matured a lot. They have shown a lot of heart which is great to see, hopefully, we can build on it and see how we can score more runs”.

Punjab Kings have been let down by their middle-order batters but they didn’t have a lot of experience in their team. Chris Gayle didn’t have the best of the season whereas Nicholas Pooran could not get going.

Punjab can only get to 12 points if they do go on to win their final match of the league stage. Thus, it will be difficult for them to qualify for the last four as they don’t have the best of NRR. PBKS will next take on Chennai Super Kings at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday.